Visions in My Mind’S Eye

Book excerpt: Visions in My Minds Eye presents a collection of poems in which poet Irmagard Anchang Langmia conjures the lives of othersacademic, religious, secular, or otherwisefrom her imaginative mind. This collection represents a multitude of cultural experiences rooted in everyday, routine life at home in her native Cameroon and abroad. The poems in the first part of Visions in My Minds Eye are all academic in nature, each dedicated to students she has taught at Bowie State University. These poems illuminate varying themes and subjects ranging from the notion of knowledge to responsibility. In the second part of the collection, the poems are religious. While a number of them are written in memory of Irmagards late father Dr. Ngongwikuo, she also explores visual images of her life in Cameroon in a startling, meditative, and dreamlike state of mind. In the third part of the collection, she has written love poems drawn mostly from her imaginary world of romantic bliss. The fourth section of the collection includes secular poems covering a variety of themes based on the daily rhythm of our lives. The fifth and final part of Visions in My Minds Eye takes a critical look at basic human nature, morality, and the human condition during times of political upheaval. Visions in My Minds Eye portrays vivid images that capture the imagination and unravel an intriguing world that leaves the mind soul-searching for answers.